Feb 23 2009
Short Answer vs. Essay: The Examination Conundrum
“No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious.” – George Bernard Shaw
I believe examination writing is an art form of all its own. Yet among students, mythologies and fallacies abound. For example, many students believe that multiple choice exams are uniformly easier than essay exams. They also believe that if they mostly select the answer choice “B”, they can pass any multiple choice test. Administrators, on the other hand, prefer the esteemed essay over the lowly multiple choice format. But it’s not quite that simple, ladies and gentlemen.
There are several considerations regarding examination format. First, what types of learning skills are being assessed? If evidence of competency is required for skills such as drawing blood from the correct vascular sites, then this psychomotor activity that should be observed and rated by the instructor based on predetermined criteria.
Most courses, however, will test recall of facts (which is not necessarily a bad thing) along with evaluation, deductive reasoning, and additional critical thinking skills. This brings me to the next consideration for examination format: are critical thinking skills best measured by analysis of case studies and by essays? Many faculty would agree. Based on my anecdotal, non-generalizable observations, most students who attended school in the United States overwhelmingly demonstrate distaste for anything other than short-answer exams. Multiple choice and true/false question formats tie as the clear winners, with matching coming in at second place. But because fill-in questions are considered to be the illegitimate stepchildren of essays, students prefer that instructors not opt for this format, either.
Next, consider the needs and submission deadlines of the instructor. How much time is available to write the exams? How much time is available to grade the exams? Short answer exams typically take longer to write and less time to grade. The reverse is true of essays. If you need to submit your semester grades 15 minutes after the completion of your last class’s final exam, guess which format you will choose.
Today, examinations are more frequently being conducted through the college’s online course management system, even if the course is being conducted onsite. The beauty of administering your examinations online is that your (scrambled) short-answer exams can be graded in an instant, along with item analyses completed documentation of every student login and submission, with time and date stamps to boot. Essays, on the other hand, require manual grading regardless of the instructional modality. You’ll still get your login and submission reports, however, no matter which type of exam you administer via your course management system.
Textbook publisher’s electronic test bank, anyone?
Multiple choice exams are normally easier than essay or short answer, because the choices often jog one’s memory. I know this, because over the years, I became an excellent test taker, even if I knew a minimal amount of the subject matter. I can understand, however, why a teacher might not like to grade so many essays if there is a short deadline for turning in the grades.
Have a Great Day!
Laurel Santiago
i typically give hands on exams (I teach relational database/computer apps)
wrote about it just today …. truly frustrating …. open book, they could use GOOGLE and help and they still spent most of their time & energy trying to manipulate me into giving them the answers.
Adding your blog to my blogroll